From: Adam Maas
<[email protected]> wrote:
> For the most part, I agree with Adam's comments (gosh, I hope it's Adam I'm
> agreeing with :-)). ?There are a lot more factors than the internet that
> contributed to the decline of newspapers/magazines: ?1) circulation among
> newspapers & magazines was beginning to decline before the internet; 2) the
> career tracks & business models greatly changed. ?In the old days, business
> & editorial were 2 separate departments with a palpable tension between the
> two. ?Now, the lines are blurred--the career paths crossover in ways they
> didn't used to & business/marketing influences editorial in degrees that you
> wouldn't have seen in the past, and I think this has led to weak journalism
> and hence a weak newspaper or magazine--& corporate mergers/takeovers have
> obviously made it more difficult to produce quality journalism because of
> gradually reduced budgets for both print and photo journalists (read
> downsizing/restructuring for bigger profits.). ?A few days ago, I learned
> from a colleague that Northwestern University here in Evanston, Il has
> changed the name of their journalism program; it's now called something like
> Journalism and Integrated Marketing Communications. ?When I heard this, it
> reminded me of the time I was working in advertising and was in a meeting
> with a magazine rep who was telling us about Banner Ads above traditional
> magazine departments and columns. ?I turned to a colleague and said, well,
> here begins the erosion ?of ?editorial. I find this all really sad. ?There
> was a time when the educated/middle/working class would challenge and object
> to maneuvers made by corporate-culture models. ?Not anymore it seems:
> instead of challenging corporate-culture models, accommodations are made to
> just--well, just go long. ? ?3) Getting folks to start paying for online
> newspaper subscriptions will be really hard--and the industry knows this--&
> they are not sure what to do about it.
>
> Cheers, Christine
>
>
Yep, it's me you're agreeing with, and I agree with your statements as
well, with one exception. The educated/middle/working class didn't
decide to go along with the corporate culture models, they decided to
tune out instead and get their news elsewhere. Captive audiences can
only influence content when they're captive and for newspapers, the
audience that was once captive (those who wanted more than soundbites
more often than weekly) quit being captive and simply left newspapers
behind for the most part.
I no longer subscribe to my local newspaper, The News and Observer,
although I do still occasionally read it ... crossword & funny papers
anyway.
For many years my great joy on a rainy Sunday morning like today would
be to sit in some cafe with a cup of coffee, read the newspaper (and I
mean read from page 1 to the bitter end of the advertising inserts) and
watch the world go by.
A quote from the will of Josephus Daniels, editor and publisher 1894 -
1948, used to be prominently featured at the top of the editorial page:
"I advise and enjoin those who direct the paper in the tomorrows never
to advocate any cause for personal profit or preferment. I would wish it
always to be 'the tocsin' and devote itself to the policies of equality
and justice to the underprivileged. If the paper should at any time be
the voice of self-interest or become the spokesman of privilege or
selfishness it would be untrue to its history."
The paper may still publish that quote somewhere; I had to search out an
old issue I'd saved from years ago to find it
Some time along the line, after the Daniels family sold the newspaper,
they *HAVE* "become the voice of self-interest" and " spokesman of
privilege or selfishness". The paper puts McClatchey Corporation
interests ahead of the reader's interest.
And as such, is no longer deserving my interest.
I do read other newspapers on-line and have paid for that access. I'd
pay in the future if need be, although the subscription models they've
used appear to have failed and they no longer ask me for payment.
OTOH, an on-line newspaper is completely useless for wrapping fish.
Think I'll go get that cup of coffee.
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